NEED HELP! w/ Girlfriends Gun. 300 WSM

She has been invited on a hunt for Mule Deer hunt next fall with me. A very good chance to shoot a nice buck.

She has a Tikka T3 Stainless with Leupold VX-3 w/ a B&C Reticle & a Limbsaver pad in 300 WSM. She really likes the gun (Birthday present from Dad in college).

She has experience shooting my 300WM with 150gr bullets and shot it once with 180gr and DIDN'T like the 180s. She is also picky about the accuracy of the gun, for confidence with her first few hunts. The Tikka does a great job shooting 180s but is less accurate with 165/150s.

There are a lot more bullets to try if you want to. Nosler makes 150 and 168 E--Tips and Barnes has TSX's and TTSX's. Hornady SST's, Interlocks and Interbonds. It's basically a process of finding a combination of powder, primers and bullets that your rifle likes. A buulet that shoots well in one rifle doesn't always shoot well in another. I think these light weight factroy sporters are very tempormental. If you use minimum loads the rifle may be less tempormental to harmonics and there will be less recoil. RL17 will give higher velocites for equal pressures compared to other powders so you might get a little more performance for same recoil?

You could also try some of the berger vld's or sierra smk's. You say your girlfriend doesn't like the 180's. Is it do to the recoil or something else? does the gun have a break on it? If not maybe have one installed to make the heavier bullets that shoot in the rifle more pleasant to shoot. I don't have much experiance with the short mag except with my cousins, he shoots the 208 A-max from Hornady with a break and is very managable compared to my Lapua that I shoot 300gr smk's without a break. How do you hunt? From a bench, off hand, or prone? I ask this because the break will calm the muzzle jump allowing her to spot her shots as well as tame the heavier bullets.

Edwards Recoil Reducers********** The First and Still The Best Check these out, they work very well. I shot a 11.5lb 338 LM braked with two recoil reducers in the butt stock and it was a total pussy cat, my wife could have pulled the trigger on it all day. It may be enough to mellow out that 300 WSM.
Is she shooting long range? If not the lighter bullets would work just fine in my opinion. I would go with accuracy over weight, if you need to shoot a deer twice it won't shake her confidence like a miss or a bad shot.

I need you to answer one question first... what is the distance she plans on shooting? I shoot the 208's like Savageshtr had mentioned. I am his cousin. With a break these rounds are very capable and tamed nicely by the break. But if she is shooting with in 500yrds, then stick with 168 or 175 SMK', Bergers or the Hornady SST. Savageshtr shot a deer through the neck with 165 SST at 30yrds with his .308. The bullet held together nicely leaving clean holes in and out (50 cent size exit wound after going through bone) at a velocity of 2950fps. This would be a low recoiling bullet in my opinion and offer great ballistics to distances of 600yrds or better.

Tank

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Matthew 7:13-14
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. [14] But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.